System and method for enabling a user of an e-commerce system to visually view and/or configure a product for purchase

ABSTRACT

A system and method that enables a user to configure a customizable product for purchase in an e-commerce system. A user may launch a web browser on a client computer system to access a vendor&#39;s web site to purchase a customizable product. The user may customize the product for purchase by selecting one or more customizable components of the product. A user may select one or more customizable components of the product by using a forms/menu interface or a visual graphical user interface. The vendor&#39;s web site may receive the one or more user selections for the customized product and may, in response, send data and information to client computer system to visually depict the ‘as purchased’ customized product for user verification and product checkout.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/498,698, filed Feb. 7, 2000, entitled “System and Method for Enablinga User of an E-Commerce System to Visually View and/or Configure aProduct for Purchase” by Lee (Attorney Docket No. 5150-40800) which isincorporated herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of electroniccommerce. More particularly, the present invention relates to a systemand method for enabling a user of an e-commerce system to visually viewand/or configure a product for purchase.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Electronic commerce or Internet commerce has become an increasinglypopular form of commerce in the United States and throughout the world.In general, electronic commerce or Internet-based commerce, oftenreferred to as e-commerce, provides vendors and service providers theability to greatly increase their sales channel and distribution networkwith minimal cost. An electronic commerce site provides a convenient andeffective mechanism for potential customers to use, select and purchaseproducts in an easy and simple fashion.

E-commerce based applications are gaining rapid acceptance in variousindustries ranging from retail to healthcare. Products sold viae-commerce range from consumer goods to heavy industrial equipment. Amajor benefit of e-commerce technology is the ability to customize aproduct or a service to solve a problem for a specific user or customer.

Various systems have been developed for purchasing products over theInternet. However, these systems have generally provided a very limitedvisualization capability to display the specific product being purchasedby the prospective purchaser or user. For example, some systems displaya bill of materials for the product being purchased. This method mayprovide specific components included with the product being purchased,but it fails to provide a graphical visualization of the product beingpurchased. Some other systems may display an image of a general productbeing ordered, but it may not represent the specific product beingpurchased by the user. For example, if a purchaser orders a personalcomputer over the Internet, the web site may display a general photo oran image of the type of personal computer being ordered, but the website may not be able to visually display the customizable attributes ofthe specific personal computer being purchased.

Purchasing of a configurable or a complex product, such as a computersystem, an automobile, a test system or an automation system, via theInternet, each with numerous customizable attributes, complicates thepurchasing decision for the user. A configurable product, often simplyreferred to as a system, may include many user selectable orconfigurable components. These components are often assembled andpackaged together on a customized basis for a specific purchase order.However, with current e-commerce systems a user may experiencedifficulty in the selection or configuration of various options orcomponents in the system. The user may further experience difficulty insimply visualizing the various possible options or components in thesystem and their relative position or orientation with respect to thesystem as a whole.

It may be desirable to provide a more graphical or visual method forenabling a user to select or configure components in a system to bepurchased. It may also be highly desirable to utilize a ‘What You See IsWhat You Get’ (WSYIWYG) philosophy for products purchased in electroniccommerce. Thus, it would be highly desirable to provide a system andmethod enabling a user of an e-commerce system to visually orgraphically configure a product as well as to visually depict the finalconfigured product, consistent with the user configured product options.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problems outlined above are in large part solved by a system andmethod that enables a user to visually or graphically configure and/orview a customizable product, such as for purchase in an e-commercesystem. In one embodiment, the e-commerce system includes an e-commerceserver, maintained by an e-commerce vendor. The e-commerce server hostsan e-commerce site or a web site of the e-commerce vendor. Thee-commerce system also preferably includes a client system whichincludes web browser software for accessing the web site of thee-commerce vendor.

A user may launch the web browser on the client system to access thevendor's web site to purchase a customizable product. The e-commerceserver for the vendor's web site may present, in one embodiment, a formsbased GUI to display customizable component options of a product on aclient computer system. In another embodiment the GUI may be in the formof an image or graphics visually depicting the customizable product.Images of the customizable components of the product may be visuallydepicted on the client display in close proximity to their respectivelocations on the image of the customizable product displayed.

The user may customize the product for purchase by selecting one or morecustomizable component options of the product. A user may select one ormore customizable component options of the product by using a forms/menuinterface or a visual graphical user interface. In one embodiment, theuser may select a customizable component for configuration by selectingthe visually displayed image of the customizable component, wherein thecustomizable components may be positioned on the image of thecustomizable product corresponding to their actual position in thesystem. After a customizable component has been selected, thecustomizable component options may then be selected, such as by using apop-up menu or by the user selecting images of the options.

The vendor's web site may receive the one or more user selections forthe customized product and may, in response, send data and informationto client computer system using dynamic web page generation technologyto visually depict the current or final ‘as purchased’ customizedproduct. The user may verify the visually depicted customized productfor accuracy, completeness, etc. prior to proceeding with payment andfinal check out.

The present invention provides a number of benefits to e-commercevendors as well as e-commerce users or customers. First, the system andmethod may increase the amount of revenue for e-commerce vendors throughincreased closure and/or volume of purchases. In addition, the systemand method may decrease the number of product returns due to incorrectlyconfigured products. The present invention may also provide a number ofbenefits to the user, including ease of use in the selection,configuration and ordering of products using the Internet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment is consideredin conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an Exemplary Network System for PerformingE-Commerce;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are a flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment ofan E-commerce transaction;

FIG. 3 shows a graphical user interface to select customizable componentselections of a product;

FIG. 4 shows a graphical user interface to visually depict a customizedproduct purchased by the customer;

FIG. 5 illustrates a measurement system, an embodiment of a customizableproduct; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a computer system, another embodiment of acustomizable product.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to limit the invention to theparticular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within thespirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1: Network System for Performing E-Commerce

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified and exemplary electronic commerce(e-commerce) or Internet commerce network system according to oneembodiment of the present invention. The embodiment illustrated in FIG.1 includes one e-commerce server 102 and one client system 106, whichmay be connected to a network 104 such as the Internet. However, it isnoted that the present invention may be utilized with respect to anynumber of e-commerce servers 102 and client systems 106.

As shown in FIG. 1, a vendor who offers products, for sale over network104, such as the Internet, preferably maintains the e-commerce server102. One example of an e-commerce vendor is Amazon.com, which sellsbooks and other items over the Internet. The e-commerce server 102 mayoffer various products for sale. As used herein, the term “product” isintended to include various types of products, such as books, CDs,content subscription services, furniture, online auction items,clothing, ISP service, consumer electronics, travel, software, medicalsupplies, automobiles, computer systems, measurement, test andautomation systems, etc.

As shown, the e-commerce server 102 may be connected to a network 104,preferably the Internet 104. The Internet 104 is currently the primarymechanism for performing electronic commerce. However, the presentinvention may be used with any of various types of wide-area networks,or networks of networks, such as the Internet, which connects computersand networks of computers together, thereby providing the connectivityfor enabling electronic commerce to operate. Thus, the network 104 maybe any of various types of networks, including wired and wirelessnetworks, or combinations thereof.

Client system 106 may also be connected to the Internet 104. The clientsystem 106 may be of various kinds of systems such as a computer system,a network appliance, an Internet appliance, a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA), WEB TV, telephone, two way pager, etc. The client system 106 mayexecute web browser software for allowing a user of the client system106 to browse and/or search the Internet 104, as well as enabling theuser to conduct transactions or commerce over the Internet 104. The webbrowser software in client computer system 106 may optionally utilize a64-bit or 128-bit encryption technology to securely communicate with thee-commerce server 102.

When the user of the client system 106 desires to purchase a productfrom a vendor over the Internet 104, the web browser software preferablyaccesses the Web site of the respective e-commerce server, such ase-commerce server 102. The client system 106 may access a web page ofthe e-commerce server 102 directly or may access the site through a linkfrom a third party. The user of the client computer 106 may also bereferred to as a customer, a client or a user.

The everyday shopping process may be applied in an e-commerceenvironment. The customer accessing an e-commerce vendor's home page maybe analogous to a customer entering a store for shopping. The customermay initiate the electronic commerce shopping process by utilizing avirtual shopping cart, passing through various ‘sections’ within thevirtual store and adding one or more products to the virtual shoppingcart. The customer may end the shopping process by checking out, i.e.,by paying for the contents of the shopping cart, at a virtual check outcounter.

Server 102

The e-commerce server 102 may include various standard components suchas one or more processors or central processing units, one or morememory media, and other standard components, e.g., a display device,input devices, a power supply, etc. The e-commerce server 102 may alsobe implemented as two or more different computer systems.

The e-commerce server 102 preferably includes a memory medium on whichcomputer programs according to the present invention are stored. Theterm “memory medium” is intended to include various types of memory orstorage, including an installation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, or floppydisks, a computer system memory, e.g., RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, EDO RAM,Rambus RAM, etc., or a non-volatile memory such as a magnetic media,e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage. The memory medium may compriseother types of memory as well, or combinations thereof. In addition, thememory medium may be located in a first computer in which the programsare executed, or may be located in a second different computer whichconnects to the first computer over a network. In the latter instance,the second computer provides the program instructions to the firstcomputer for execution. Also, the server 102 may take various forms,including a computer system, mainframe computer system, workstation, orother device. In general, the term “computer system” or “server” can bebroadly defined to encompass any device having a processor that executesinstructions from a memory medium.

The memory medium preferably stores software for an e-commerce system toenable a user to configure and/or view a product according to themethods or flowcharts described below. The software program may beimplemented in any of various ways, including procedure-basedtechniques, component-based techniques, and/or object-orientedtechniques, among others. For example, the software program may beimplemented using ActiveX controls, C++ objects, Java objects, MicrosoftFoundation Classes (MFC), or other technologies or methodologies, asdesired. As another example, the dynamic web page generation may beimplemented using technologies such as Common Gateway Interface (CGI),Java Servlets, Active Server Pages (ASP) and other similar technologies.A CPU, such as the host CPU, executing code and data from a memorymedium comprises a means for implementing an e-commerce system to enablea user to configure a product according to the methods or flowchartsdescribed below.

Various embodiments further include receiving or storing instructionsand/or data implemented in accordance with the foregoing descriptionupon a carrier medium. Suitable carrier media include memory media orstorage media such as magnetic or optical media, e.g., disk or CD-ROM,as well as signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digitalsignals, conveyed via a communication medium such as networks and/or awireless link.

FIGS. 2A and 2B: E-Commerce Flowchart

FIGS. 2A and 2B are a flowchart which illustrate one embodiment of ane-commerce method wherein a user of an e-commerce system may visuallyconfigure a product, and wherein the product may be visually depicted,consistent with the user configured product options.

In step 20, a user or customer, using the client system 106 executingweb browser software, submits a request to the e-commerce server 102 topurchase a customizable product offered by the vendor's web site.

Some products may be purchased ‘off-the-shelf’, i.e., without furthermodification. Some other products, referred to herein as configurableproducts, may require the customer to specify additional options orselect certain components of the product, which may require furthermodification to the ‘off-the-shelf’ product before being shipped to thecustomer. Purchasing of a configurable product, such as a computersystem, an automobile, a test, measurement, or an automation system,each with numerous user selectable attributes, may complicate thepurchasing decision for the user. A configurable product, often simplyreferred to as a system, may include many user selectable orconfigurable or specifiable components. These components may often beassembled and packaged together on a customer specific basis for aspecific purchase order. The process of specifying or selecting orconfiguring one or more components of the product may be described ascustomization of the product.

A product may be described as being customizable if it includes one ormore attributes, properties or components that may be selected,configured or specified by the customer. One or more components of aproduct may be described as being customizable if the one or morecomponents include attributes or properties that may be selected orconfigured, or where the user may select one of various possiblecomponent options. Customizable component options may be included forevery customizable component. After a customizable component has beenselected for configuration, the customizable component options may thenbe presented or displayed, wherein the user can select one or several ofthe customizable component options to specify the customizablecomponent. A customizable component option that is selected by the userbecomes a customizable component selection. Customizable componentselections applied to a customizable product specify a customizedproduct.

FIG. 5 illustrates a measurement system, which is one example of acustomizable product. Customizable components of a measurement systemmay include plug-in data acquisition board 520, software 522, computer512, signal conditioning boards 521, sensor/transducer 524, etc. Whenthe user specifies selections for one or more customizable components,the measurement system may be described as a customized product, whichhas been designed to meet the requirements for a specific user. FIG. 6illustrates a computer system, which is another example of acustomizable product. Other examples of customizable products include,but are not limited to, audio systems, video systems, televisions,automobiles, etc.

In step 22, the e-commerce server for the vendor's web site may receivea customer request to purchase a customizable product. The e-commerceserver may parse the customer request to generate a response. Forexample, the customer may be browsing the vendor's web site and selectthe customizable product for possible purchase.

In step 24, the e-commerce server 102 sends data and information relatedto the requested customizable product to the client system 106 fordisplay. In step 24 the e-commerce server 102 may send data andinformation related to the customizable component options of thecustomizable product.

In step 26, the client system 106 receives the data and information sentby the e-commerce server 102. The client system 106 may then display animage or graphics, such as in the form of a graphical user interface(GUI) in response to the data received from the e-commerce server 102.The graphical user interface (GUI) transmitted by the e-commerce server102 in step 24 which is used to customize the requested product may takevarious shapes or forms.

In one embodiment, the GUI may be in the form of a menu. Customizablecomponents of the customizable product and customizable componentoptions for the customizable component may be listed. FIG. 3 illustratesan example of a portion of a forms based GUI to select customizablecomponents of a product. The user may be allowed to select customizablecomponent options, e.g., select choices, by clicking in a check box, inone embodiment, or selecting a radio button, in another embodiment. Textcorresponding to the customizable components of the customizable productand/or the customizable component options may be displayed in closeproximity to each other, in one embodiment.

In another embodiment, the GUI may be in the form of an image or agraphic visually depicting the customizable product. The customizablecomponents of the product may be visually depicted on the image of thecustomizable product, preferably in close proximity to or “at” therespective location on the product displayed on the client system 106screen. For example, FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a GUI visuallydepicting an image of a measurement system which has already beencustomized. In FIG. 4, each of the slots in the chassis may represent acustomizable component. The customizable component options of thecustomizable components may also be visually depicted. For example, inFIG. 4 the customizable component options may be displayed in menusunder the image of the customizable product. Alternatively, thecustomizable component options may be displayed in close proximity tothe respective location of the customizable component on the image ofthe customizable product displayed on the client system 106.

The customizable components, i.e., the displayed images of thecustomizable components, may be highlighted or clearly identified insome way to indicate to the user that the respective component iscustomizable. The user may activate the selection process for acustomizable component by clicking on the component or area. In anotherembodiment, when the user drags a cursor of the client system 106 overthe component or area, a pop-up window or menu may appear to enable theuser to select or configure the customizable component. The pop-upwindow, in one embodiment, may include text information displayed inclose proximity to the image of the associated customizable componentwhich displays or indicates the customizable component options. Inanother embodiment, a user may use other drag-and-drop techniques tomake customizable component selections.

In step 28, in one embodiment, as the user selects or configures the oneor more customizable components, i.e., as the user selects customizablecomponent options for each customizable component, the client system 106submits the selections for the one or more customizable components tothe vendor's e-commerce server 102. In step 30, the vendor's e-commerceserver 102 receives the data and information associated with thecustomer selections.

In one embodiment, on receiving the data and information associated withthe customer selections, the e-commerce server 102 may perform furtherprocessing to prepare a response or display the current configurationselected. Thus, further processing of the data and information receivedmay include preparing a response to display an image or a drawing tovisually depict the current ‘as ordered’ customized product on acustomer screen.

Instead of having every possible combination of user selectable optionsand their corresponding product images stored in separate graphicsfiles. In one embodiment, each customizable component image of theproduct may be stored in graphic files. The e-commerce server 106preferably dynamically integrates the separately stored images into asingle image or a drawing to visually depict the current or final ‘asordered’ customized product. The dynamic web page generation can beimplemented in an e-commerce server by using technologies like CommonGateway Interface (CGI), Java Servlets, Active Server Pages (ASP) andother similar technologies.

In step 32, the vendor's e-commerce server 106 sends the data andinformation to the client system 106 to enable it to generate a displayto visually depict the current or final ‘as ordered’ customized product.In step 34, the client system 106, in one embodiment, generates a GUI tovisually depict the ‘as ordered’ customized product. The GUI, in anotherembodiment, utilizes ‘What You See Is What You Get’ (WSYIWYG) techniquesto display a photo or an image or a graphic to visually represent thespecific, customized product ordered by the customer. FIG. 4 illustratesone embodiment of a visual depiction of a customized product ordered bythe customer. The user may verify the visually depicted customizedproduct for accuracy, completeness, etc. prior to proceeding withpayment and final check out.

In one embodiment, the process of selecting one or more customizablecomponents of a customizable product, then subsequently selecting thecustomizable component options for the selected customizable component,and then displaying the current configuration, may be an interactiveprocess performed in real-time. The user may select a first customizablecomponent of a customizable product, view a plurality of options for thecustomizable component, and may then make a first customizable componentselection among the various options associated with the firstcustomizable component. The client system 106 may receive and display animage substantially like the current configured product, including animage of the first customizable component selection for the firstcustomizable component, for user verification, etc. Thus where the userhas selected a module for a certain slot of the PXI chassis of FIG. 4,the e-commerce server 102 may transmit an image displaying the currentstate of the PXI chassis with the selected module comprised in thechassis. The interactive process may continue until the user hasselected the desired number or required number of customizablecomponents and/or customizable component options. Thus steps 28 through34 may be repeated in an interactive manner in real-time until the userevaluates, confirms and completes the purchase of the customizedproduct.

In another embodiment, the process of selecting customizable componentsand visually depicting the selections of the customized product may be abatch process, wherein the user may select options for each of the oneor more customizable components of a customizable product and may submita single request to the e-commerce server for all user selections. Theclient system 106 may generate a GUI to visually depict, e.g., an imagesubstantially like the purchased product, the final customized productfor user verification, etc. The user may then verify the accuracy, etc.of the visually depicted customized product. If the displayed customizedproduct is found not to meet user requirements, then steps 28 through 34may be repeated till the user requirements have been met and the usercompletes the transaction to purchase the customized product.

FIG. 5: Measurement System—An Example of a Customizable Product

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary measurement system 510, which is oneembodiment of a customizable product. The system 510 comprises acomputer 512, which connects to one or more instruments. The one or moreinstruments may include a GPIB (general purpose interface bus)instrument 514, a VXI (VME eXtension for Instrumentation) chassis 516comprising one or more VXI card instruments, a serial instrument 518and/or a data acquisition board 520. The GPIB instrument 514 may becoupled to the computer 512 via a GPIB interface provided by thecomputer 512. The VXI instrument 516 may be coupled to the computer 512via a VXI bus or MXI bus provided by the computer. The serial instrument518 may be coupled to the computer 512 through a serial port, such as anRS-232 port, provided by the computer 512. Finally, the data acquisitiondevice 520 may be coupled to the computer 512, typically by beingplugged in to an I/O slot in the computer such as a PCI bus slot,provided by the computer 512. The data acquisition device 520 may couplethrough signal conditioning logic. In typical measurement systems aninstrument will not be present of each interface type and in fact manysystems may only have one or more instruments of a single interfacetype, such as only GPIB instruments.

The instruments may be for coupling to a unit under test (UUT) 523, aprocess, or are coupled to receive field signals, typically generated bysensors or transducers 524 which have been designed to measure variablessuch as temperature, flow, pressure, motion, etc. related to the UUT523. The measurement system 510 may be used in a data acquisition andcontrol application, or may instead be used in a test and measurementapplication. If the system 510 is used in a data acquisitionapplication, the system 510 also preferably includes signal conditioningcircuitry 521 coupled between the data acquisition board 520 andtransducers 524.

As discussed above, the user may configure a customized measurementsystem by specifying customizable component selections of variouscustomizable components in the customizable measurement system. Thecustomization process may be performed in any desired manner, such asstarting with the transducers 524 and ending up with the computer 512.For example, the user may start customization with the selection of thesensor/transducers 524, selection of signal conditioning modules 521,selection of the type of data acquisition device 520 that has thedesired sample rate, desired number of channels, desired accuracy, etc.,and then selection of the appropriate software for the user'sapplication, e.g., LabVIEW, NI-DAQ driver level software, and possiblyselection of the type of computer 512. The customizable components mayinclude, but may not be limited to, one or more types of dataacquisition board 520, one or more types of signal condition modulesthat make up signal conditioning circuitry 521, type of bus interface(GPIB, VXI, MXI, etc.), type of VXI, GPIB or serial instruments,software 522. The term “instrument” used herein also includes softwarecode or software objects, which implement instrument functionality orare used to control instruments.

FIG. 6: Computer System—An Example of a Customizable Product

FIG. 6 illustrates a computer system 790, which is another embodiment ofa customizable product. Customizable components of computer system mayinclude CPU type, memory type and/or amount (system memory andnon-volatile memory), and selection of add-in cards or boards 710, videomonitor or display 700, keyboard 720, CD-ROM 730, pointing device 740,printer 750, scanner 760, and other peripherals 770. Peripherals 770 mayinclude devices such as CRT/video monitor 700, keyboard 720, CD-ROM 730,mouse 740, printer 750, scanner 760, floppy disk (not shown), etc. Thecustomizable components of the computer system may also include thesoftware, e.g., operating system and desired applications. The above aremerely examples of customizable components, it being noted that variousother components or attributes may be selectable by a user inconfiguring a computer system

The various CPU options may include CPU type, e.g., Intel Pentium, IntelMerced, AMD Athlon, PowerPC, as well as the CPU speed, e.g., 500 MHz,600 MHZ, 700 MHz, etc.

The various memory options may include system memory type, such asstandard DRAM, RAMBUS RAM, synchronous DRAM, etc., memory speed, andamount of memory, e.g., 64 Mbytes,128 Mbytes, 256 Mbytes. The variousmemory options may also include non-volatile memory options such assize, e.g., 6 Gbytes, 10 Gbytes, 20 Gbytes etc., type, e.g., magnetic oroptical storage, and access time, among others.

The various add-in card options may include choice of sound card andspeakers, choice of video card, choice of 3D graphics card, choice ofmodem or other communications device, choice of network card, and choiceof instrument or automation cards, among others.

The various display options may include display size, e.g., 15″ viewablearea, 17″ viewable area, and display type, e.g., analog CRT, LCD, flatscreen, as well as refresh rate, resolution, etc.

The various peripheral options may include selections among differenttypes of keyboards, such as ergonomic keyboards, type and speed ofCD-ROM, type of pointing device, such as mouse, trackball, choice ofprinter, scanner, and other peripherals.

The various software options may include the operating system, e.g.,Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Linux, Mac OS, and applications,such as word processing software, web browser software, games, etc.

The user may initiate the customization process by selecting thecustomizable components of the computer system 790. The customizationprocess may utilize a menu or forms based approach, including use ofmenus and sub-menus. In another example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, thecustomization process may utilize a visual approach to customize thecustomizable components of the product. For example, the vendor mayvisually depict the computer system on a client system 106 screen, andthe user may select images of the customizable components forcustomization. As noted above, the visual based approach to productcustomization process may identify, with the use of color, animation,etc., all customizable components of a product. The user may click on animage of a customizable component for further selection and/orspecification.

Using a hierarchical approach in the selection process, the environmentrelated selections may specify a country where the computer may beinstalled, thereby specifying the power voltage/frequency requirements,telephone requirements, audio/video requirements, language preferences,etc. The hardware selections may include all boards for the computersystem 790, including motherboard, memory board, I/O boards, etc.,storage devices and then branching out to the peripheral devices such asprinter 750, etc. The software selections may include the type ofoperating system, the type of web browser, optional applicationsoftware, etc.

Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It isintended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all suchvariations and modifications.

1. A method for enabling a user to configure a system in an e-commercesystem, wherein the e-commerce system includes a client system coupledthrough a network to an electronic commerce server, the methodcomprising: receiving a request from a user of the client system toconfigure the system, wherein the system includes one or morecustomizable components; providing an image of the system to the clientsystem for display, wherein images of at least a subset of the one ormore customizable components form at least a portion of the image of thesystem; receiving customizable component selections for at least one ofthe one or more customizable components of the system in response touser input, wherein said receiving customizable component selectionscomprises: receiving user input selecting an image of a firstcustomizable component which is visually depicted in the image of thesystem, wherein said receiving user input selecting the image of thefirst customizable component operates to select the first customizablecomponent for configuration; and receiving user input selecting a firstcustomizable component option for the first customizable component,wherein the user input selecting the first customizable component optioncomprises the customizable component selection for the firstcustomizable component; wherein the customizable component selectionsapplied to the system specify a configured system.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising providing an image of the configured systemto the client system for display, wherein the image of the configuredsystem visually depicts the customizable component selections of theuser.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said providing the image of theconfigured system includes providing customizable component selectionimages corresponding to the customizable component selections of theuser.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein at least a subset of thecustomizable component selection images are visually depicted at theirrespective locations on the image of the configured system.
 5. Themethod of claim 2 wherein said providing the image of the configuredsystem includes providing text corresponding to the customizablecomponent selections of the user; wherein the text is displayed in theimage of the configured system.
 6. The method of claim 2 wherein theimage of the configured system is viewable by the user and used by theuser to evaluate and confirm the customizable component selections. 7.The method of claim 2 further comprising: receiving one or more newcustomizable component selections for at least one of the one or morecustomizable components of the configured system after said providingthe image of the configured system to the client system, wherein the newcustomizable component selections applied to the configured systemspecify a new configured system; providing an image of the newconfigured system, wherein the image of the new configured systemvisually depicts the new customizable component selections of the user.8. The method of claim 7 wherein said receiving selections includes:receiving user input selecting a first customizable component; providinga menu of possible options for the first customizable component to theclient system for display after the user input selecting the firstcustomizable component; receiving user input selecting one of thepossible options for the first customizable component.
 9. The method ofclaim 1 wherein said receiving user input selecting the image of thefirst customizable component further includes: receiving user inputindicating that a position of a cursor of the client system overlaps alocation of the image of the first customizable component displayed inthe image of the system.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein saidreceiving customizable component selections further includes: providinga menu comprising customizable component options of the firstcustomizable component for display on the client system after saidreceiving user input selecting the image of the first customizablecomponent.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the menu comprising thecustomizable component options includes text indicating the customizablecomponent options.
 12. The method of claim 10 wherein the menucomprising the customizable component options includes images indicatingthe customizable component options.
 13. The method of claim 10 whereinthe menu is operable to be displayed proximate to the location of theimage of the first customizable component
 14. The method of claim 10wherein said receiving customizable component selections furtherincludes: providing a sequence of images corresponding to thecustomizable component options of the first customizable component aftersaid receiving user input selecting the image of the first customizablecomponent.
 15. The method of claim 10 wherein said receiving user inputselecting the first customizable component option includes: providingcustomizable component option images corresponding to the customizablecomponent options of the first customizable component; receiving userinput selecting a first customizable component option imagecorresponding to the first customizable component option.
 16. The methodof claim 1 further comprising: providing an image of the firstcustomizable component option for display on the client system inresponse to said receiving user input selecting the first customizablecomponent option for the first customizable component.
 17. A method forenabling a user to configure a measurement system in an e-commercesystem, wherein the e-commerce system includes a client system coupledthrough a network to an electronic commerce server, the methodcomprising: receiving a request from a user of the client system toconfigure the measurement system, wherein the measurement systemincludes one or more customizable components, wherein at least one ofthe customizable components is a measurement device; providing an imageof the measurement system to the client system for display, whereinimages of at least a subset of the one or more customizable componentsform at least a portion of the image of the measurement system;receiving customizable component selections for at least one of the oneor more customizable components of the measurement system in response touser input, wherein said receiving customizable component selectionscomprises: receiving user input selecting an image of a firstcustomizable component which is visually depicted in the image of themeasurement system, wherein said receiving user input selecting theimage of the first customizable component operates to select the firstcustomizable component for configuration; and receiving user inputselecting a first customizable component option for the firstcustomizable component, wherein the user input selecting the firstcustomizable component option comprises the customizable componentselection for the first customizable component; wherein the customizablecomponent selections applied to the measurement system specify aconfigured measurement system.
 18. The method of claim 17 furthercomprising providing an image of the configured measurement system tothe client system for display, wherein the image of the configuredmeasurement system visually depicts the customizable componentselections of the user.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein saidproviding the image of the configured measurement system includesproviding customizable component selection images corresponding to thecustomizable component selections of the user.
 20. The method of claim19 wherein at least a subset of the customizable component selectionimages are visually depicted at their respective locations on the imageof the configured measurement system.
 21. The method of claim 18 whereinsaid providing the image of the configured measurement system includesproviding text corresponding to the customizable component selections ofthe user; wherein the text is displayed in the image of the configuredmeasurement system.
 22. The method of claim 18 wherein the image of theconfigured measurement system is viewable by the user and used by theuser to evaluate and confirm the customizable component selections. 23.The method of claim 18 further comprising: receiving one or more newcustomizable component selections for at least one of the one or morecustomizable components of the configured measurement system after saidproviding the image of the configured measurement system to the clientsystem, wherein the new customizable component selections applied to theconfigured measurement system specify a new configured measurementsystem; providing an image of the new configured measurement system,wherein the image of the new configured measurement system visuallydepicts the new customizable component selections of the user.
 24. Themethod of claim 23 wherein said receiving selections includes: receivinguser input selecting a first customizable component; providing a menu ofpossible options for the first customizable component to the clientsystem for display after the user input selecting the first customizablecomponent; receiving user input selecting one of the possible optionsfor the first customizable component.
 25. The method of claim 17 whereinsaid receiving user input selecting the image of the first customizablecomponent further includes: receiving user input indicating that aposition of a cursor of the client system overlaps a location of theimage of the first customizable component displayed in the image of themeasurement system.
 26. The method of claim 17 wherein said receivingcustomizable component selections further includes: providing a menucomprising customizable component options of the first customizablecomponent for display on the client system after said receiving userinput selecting the image of the first customizable component.
 27. Themethod of claim 26 wherein the menu comprising the customizablecomponent options includes text indicating the customizable componentoptions.
 28. The method of claim 26 wherein the menu comprising thecustomizable component options includes images indicating thecustomizable component options.
 29. The method of claim 26 wherein themenu is operable to be displayed proximate to the location of the imageof the first customizable component
 30. The method of claim 26 whereinsaid receiving customizable component selections further includes:providing a sequence of images corresponding to the customizablecomponent options of the first customizable component after saidreceiving user input selecting the image of the first customizablecomponent.
 31. The method of claim 26 wherein said receiving user inputselecting the first customizable component option includes: providingcustomizable component option images corresponding to the customizablecomponent options of the first customizable component; receiving userinput selecting a first customizable component option imagecorresponding to the first customizable component option.
 32. The methodof claim 17 further comprising: providing an image of the firstcustomizable component option for display on the client system inresponse to said receiving user input selecting the first customizablecomponent option for the first customizable component.
 33. A method forenabling a user to configure a computer system in an e-commerce system,wherein the e-commerce system includes a client system coupled through anetwork to an electronic commerce server, the method comprising:receiving a request from a user of the client system to configure thecomputer system, wherein the computer system includes one or morecustomizable components, wherein at least one of the customizablecomponents is an electronic device; providing an image of the computersystem to the client system for display, wherein images of at least asubset of the one or more customizable components form at least aportion of the image of the computer system; receiving customizablecomponent selections for at least one of the one or more customizablecomponents of the computer system in response to user input, whereinsaid receiving customizable component selections comprises: receivinguser input selecting an image of a first customizable component which isvisually depicted in the image of the computer system, wherein saidreceiving user input selecting the image of the first customizablecomponent operates to select the first customizable component forconfiguration; and receiving user input selecting a first customizablecomponent option for the first customizable component, wherein the userinput selecting the first customizable component option comprises thecustomizable component selection for the first customizable component;wherein the customizable component selections applied to the computersystem specify a configured computer system.
 34. The method of claim 33further comprising providing an image of the configured computer systemto the client system for display, wherein the image of the configuredcomputer system visually depicts the customizable component selectionsof the user.
 35. The method of claim 34 wherein said providing the imageof the configured computer system includes providing customizablecomponent selection images corresponding to the customizable componentselections of the user.
 36. The method of claim 35 wherein at least asubset of the customizable component selection images are visuallydepicted at their respective locations on the image of the configuredcomputer system.
 37. The method of claim 34 wherein said providing theimage of the configured computer system includes providing textcorresponding to the customizable component selections of the user;wherein the text is displayed in the image of the configured computersystem.
 38. The method of claim 34 wherein the image of the configuredcomputer system is viewable by the user and used by the user to evaluateand confirm the customizable component selections.
 39. The method ofclaim 34 further comprising: receiving one or more new customizablecomponent selections for at least one of the one or more customizablecomponents of the configured computer system after said providing theimage of the configured computer system to the client system, whereinthe new customizable component selections applied to the configuredcomputer system specify a new configured computer system; providing animage of the new configured computer system, wherein the image of thenew configured computer system visually depicts the new customizablecomponent selections of the user.
 40. The method of claim 39 whereinsaid receiving selections includes: receiving user input selecting afirst customizable component; providing a menu of possible options forthe first customizable component to the client system for display afterthe user input selecting the first customizable component; receivinguser input selecting one of the possible options for the firstcustomizable component.
 41. The method of claim 33 wherein saidreceiving user input selecting the image of the first customizablecomponent further includes: receiving user input indicating that aposition of a cursor of the client system overlaps a location of theimage of the first customizable component displayed in the image of thecomputer system.
 42. The method of claim 33 wherein said receivingcustomizable component selections further includes: providing a menucomprising customizable component options of the first customizablecomponent for display on the client system after said receiving userinput selecting the image of the first customizable component.
 43. Themethod of claim 42 wherein the menu comprising the customizablecomponent options includes text indicating the customizable componentoptions.
 44. The method of claim 42 wherein the menu comprising thecustomizable component options includes images indicating thecustomizable component options.
 45. The method of claim 42 wherein themenu is operable to be displayed proximate to the location of the imageof the first customizable component
 46. The method of claim 42 whereinsaid receiving customizable component selections further includes:providing a sequence of images corresponding to the customizablecomponent options of the first customizable component after saidreceiving user input selecting the image of the first customizablecomponent.
 47. The method of claim 42 wherein said receiving user inputselecting the first customizable component option includes: providingcustomizable component option images corresponding to the customizablecomponent options of the first customizable component; receiving userinput selecting a first customizable component option imagecorresponding to the first customizable component option.
 48. The methodof claim 33 further comprising: providing an image of the firstcustomizable component option for display on the client system inresponse to said receiving user input selecting the first customizablecomponent option for the first customizable component.
 49. A memorymedium comprising program instructions for enabling a user to configurea system in an e-commerce system, wherein the e-commerce system includesa client system coupled through a network to an electronic commerceserver, wherein the program instructions are executable to implement:receiving a request from a user of the client system to configure thesystem, wherein the system includes one or more customizable components;providing an image of the system to the client system for display,wherein images of at least a subset of the one or more customizablecomponents form at least a portion of the image of the system; receivingcustomizable component selections for at least one of the one or morecustomizable components of the system in response to user input, whereinsaid receiving customizable component selections comprises: receivinguser input selecting an image of a first customizable component which isvisually depicted in the image of the system, wherein said receivinguser input selecting the image of the first customizable componentoperates to select the first customizable component for configuration;and receiving user input selecting a first customizable component optionfor the first customizable component, wherein the user input selectingthe first customizable component option comprises the customizablecomponent selection for the first customizable component; wherein thecustomizable component selections applied to the system specify aconfigured system.
 50. A memory medium comprising program instructionsfor enabling a user to configure a computer system in an e-commercesystem, wherein the e-commerce system includes a client system coupledthrough a network to an electronic commerce server, wherein the programinstructions are executable to implement: receiving a request from auser of the client system to configure the computer system, wherein thecomputer system includes one or more customizable components, wherein atleast one of the customizable components is an electronic device;providing an image of the computer system to the client system fordisplay, wherein images of at least a subset of the one or morecustomizable components form at least a portion of the image of thecomputer system; receiving customizable component selections for atleast one of the one or more customizable components of the computersystem in response to user input, wherein said receiving customizablecomponent selections comprises: receiving user input selecting an imageof a first customizable component which is visually depicted in theimage of the computer system, wherein said receiving user inputselecting the image of the first customizable component operates toselect the first customizable component for configuration; and receivinguser input selecting a first customizable component option for the firstcustomizable component, wherein the user input selecting the firstcustomizable component option comprises the customizable componentselection for the first customizable component; wherein the customizablecomponent selections applied to the computer system specify a configuredcomputer system.
 51. A memory medium comprising program instructions forenabling a user to configure a measurement system in an e-commercesystem, wherein the e-commerce system includes a client system coupledthrough a network to an electronic commerce server, wherein the programinstructions are executable to implement: receiving a request from auser of the client system to configure the measurement system, whereinthe measurement system includes one or more customizable components,wherein at least one of the customizable components is a measurementdevice; providing an image of the measurement system to the clientsystem for display, wherein images of at least a subset of the one ormore customizable components form at least a portion of the image of themeasurement system; receiving customizable component selections for atleast one of the one or more customizable components of the measurementsystem in response to user input, wherein said receiving customizablecomponent selections comprises: receiving user input selecting an imageof a first customizable component which is visually depicted in theimage of the measurement system, wherein said receiving user inputselecting the image of the first customizable component operates toselect the first customizable component for configuration; and receivinguser input selecting a first customizable component option for the firstcustomizable component, wherein the user input selecting the firstcustomizable component option comprises the customizable componentselection for the first customizable component; wherein the customizablecomponent selections applied to the measurement system specify aconfigured measurement system.